News Mails - 2011
ASIA-PACIFIC REGIONAL SPACE AGENCY FORUM (APRSAF)
Newsletter -No. 077 Jan/13/2011
http://www.aprsaf.org
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**CONTENTS
1. Interview with STAR program participants
2. India and the US agree to reinforce their strategic relationship
3. Indonesia and the US sign a comprehensive partnership agreement
4. India to launch Megha-Tropiques in 2011
5. Korea to launch Kompsat-5 in June-July 2011
6. Event Calendar
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1. Interview with STAR program participants
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The APRSAF secretariat has conducted an interview with two young engineers from VAST/STI, Vietnam, who joined the STAR program in May 2010. The interview is now posted on the APRSAF website:
http://www.aprsaf.org/interviews_features/interviews_2010/48.php
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2. India and the US agree to reinforce their strategic relationship
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On November 8, US President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held a summit meeting during the US President's official visit to India. They agreed to reinforce the economic and strategic relationships between the two countries. They also agreed to strengthen cooperation between the two countries in the field of space and committed to developing a closer partnership in space exploration and earth observation through a Joint Civil Space Working Group meeting to be held in 2011.
Reference:
White House Press Release
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/11/08/us-india-partnership-fact-sheets
White House Fact Sheet on U.S.-India Space Cooperation (MS word file)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/Fact_Sheet_on_U.S-India_Space_Cooperation.docx
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3. Indonesia and the US sign a comprehensive partnership agreement
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On November 9, US President Barack Obama and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono reviewed the diverse areas of cooperation between the two governments and signed the Comprehensive Partnership agreement when the US President visited Indonesia. The two countries will continue to reinforce their strategic ties in the fields of science and technology, security and regional cooperation, and trade and investment; they will also continue to strengthen socio-cultural and other ties. In addition, Indonesia and the US have carried out a variety of core programs/projects as part of new initiatives in science and technology. In an effort to strengthen the abovementioned ties between the two countries, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been involved in discussions with its Indonesian counterpart to finalize a Statement of Intent on future cooperation in capacity building and education, earth science applications for societal benefits, scientific data exchange, space weather monitoring and research, and measuring and monitoring of emissions and the impacts of climate change. Further, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) vessel "Okeanos Explorer" and Indonesia's "Baruna Jaya IV" will continue their joint study, which includes capturing the topography of Indonesia's ocean floor.
Reference:
White House Press Release
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/11/09/fact-sheets-united-states-and-indonesia-building-a-21st-century-partners
White House Press Release ? Fact Sheet on Science and Technology (pdf file)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/india-factsheets/US-Indonesia_Science_and_Tech_Fact_Sheet.pdf
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4. India to launch Megha-Tropiques in 2011
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On November 13, the Chairman of the Indian Research Organisation (ISRO), Dr. Radhakrishnan, stated that ISRO will launch several satellites in 2011. An earth observation satellite, Megha-Tropiques, which has been jointly developed by India and France, will be launched by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in the middle of 2011. Further, a marine observation satellite, namely, the Satellite with Argos and ALtika (SARAL), will be launched (possibly by PSLV), and the Indian radar imaging satellite, RISAT-1, will be launched by PSLV. It was also announced that Resourcesat-2 (IRS-IIC), an earth observation satellite, along with Youthsat, a micro satellite that will be used to study solar radiation for educational purposes, would be launched by PSLV (PSLV-C16) in January 2011.
Reference:
The Hindu
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Chennai/article884355.ece
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5. Korea to launch Kompsat-5 in June-July 2011
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On November 19, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology of Korea (MEST) announced that the first Korean multi-purpose satellite equipped with a SAR payload, Kompsat-5 (Ariang-5), would be launched by a Dnepr rocket in June?July 2011 from the Yasny launch base in Russia. The satellite passed a vibration test, and it is now in the process of being equipped with an SAR antenna. It is scheduled to undergo environmental tests and performance tests. The function of this satellite is to acquire images while it orbits the earth about 15 times a day at an altitude of 550 km for five years after its launch. It is expected that this satellite will be utilized together with the currently operated earth observation satellite, Kompsat-2 (Ariang-2), which was launched on July 28, 2006, in various fields such as disaster monitoring and resource use studies.
Reference:
MEST News (Korean)
http://mest.korea.kr/gonews/branch.do?act=detailView&dataId=155701164§ionId=b_sec_2&type=news&currPage=1&flComment=1&flReply=0
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6. Event Calendar
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- 17th Annual Space Exploration Educators Conference
(3-5 February 2011, Houston, USA)
http://www.spacecenter.org/TeachersSEEC.html
- Scientific and Technical Subcommittee, UN COPUOS: 2011 48th session
(7-18 February 2011, Vienna, Austria)
http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/COPUOS/stsc/2011/index.html
- 34th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment
(10-15 April 2011, Sydney, Australia)
http://eblast.arinex.com.au/eblasts/view/20100319_34th_international_symposium_on_remote_sensing_of_the_environment
- 2011 International Conference on Space Science and Communication (IconSpace2011)
(12-13 July 2011, Pahang, Malaysia)
http://pkukmweb.ukm.my/ispace/
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Copyright 2011 The APRSAF Secretariat
APRSAF Newsletters are distributed to update the readers on recent developments in space-related activities in the Asia-Pacific region.
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